[A socioeconomic classification and the discussion related to prevalence of dental caries and dental fluorosis]

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between a socioeconomic classification model and prevalence of dental caries and dental fluorosis in Piracicaba, Sâo Paulo, Brazil.

Methods: For this classification five indicators were used (family monthly income, number of residents in the same household, parents' formal educational level, type of housing and occupation of person responsible for the family). A scoring system was used in order to arrange in a hierarchy, 812 12 year old school children distributed between six different social classes. Volunteers were examined in the school's back patio under natural light with a dental mirror, by two examiners calibrated for DMFT index (dental caries) and T-F (dental fluorosis). The qui-square test (p<0.01) was used in the statistical analysis for the association of DMFT and the dental fluorosis and between the socioeconomic variable and the proposed social classes.

Results: The DMFT average was 1.7, while 31.4%, of the children had dental fluorosis (T-Fe"1).

Conclusion: With respect to socioeconomic class a statistically significant association was only verified with dental caries.